Real Life and Reverie

Every year my gift list seems to grow. Teachers, friends, neighbors, co-workers, mailman, the lady I wave to that walks her dog every day! I love giving gifts, it's my love language, but my income doesn't necessarily match my desire for lavish gift-giving! :0) So I plan ahead and do what I can, hit after Christmas sales, shop year round, and now scour pinterest for cute, cheap, gift ideas to show people I care without going into debt. Here is an idea I saw in a magazine years ago that I am using for some of those on my gift list this year. (Hopefully none of them see this before I give them out) When I averaged out the cost, it came to about 45 cents a piece.

Here are the materials you will need:

Clear or pearl-like ornaments

White or colored paper shred

Your choice of ribbon

Letter stickers

Here is a closer shot of the letter stickers I chose, this was after I made them so some letters are missing. I loved the black against the white shred.

Directions are simple. Stuff the shred into the ornament, stick on the letter and tie with a ribbon for hanging. Easy and cute!

I have always loved to decorate my home. No matter if it was my dorm room in college, the small two bedroom apartment my husband and I started out in, or the home we now share with our two kids. There is something about decorating that makes things feel complete to me. The process of coming up with an idea and then seeing it through to fruition is challenging and fun. It is definitely something I wouldn't mind doing for a living. My friend Kim asked me if I would like to come to her home and start the process of organizing and possibly some decorating as well. Decorating and organizing for someone other than myself or my mom is something I have never tried and I am super excited to see how everything turns out. We decided the first thing we would work on would be her mantel for Christmas. We took a trip to Hobby Lobby (LOVE) and a few hours later had her Christmas mantel all ready for the season.

Here it is four days before Halloween and I am just posting some of my fall/Halloween decorations but as they say better late than never I suppose!

We will start with my daughter's room﻿ - she likes decorating for seasons almost as much as I do.

I made the BOO letters a few Halloween's ago, just the cardboard letters from Hobby Lobby, some scrap paper and of course Modge Podge! Super easy - I painted the edges which made it even easier.

Here is my entertainment center in the living room - OH how that cord hanging from the TV is a thorn in my side!!! My husband says I just need to get a longer one and he can hide it through the wall....we shall see! ;)

Here is a closer look at the pumpkins.

Next up, the fireplace. It's kind of weird to see your home in pictures, like that candle on the right looks yellow but in real life it's the same as the others. Maybe it's my mad picture taking skills, ha! Anyway, we have yet to buy gas logs or use real logs because we keep hearing arguments against both and can't make a decision!! Any opinions would be welcome before it gets too cold around here!

Here are just a few things in my kitchen.

and the top of my frig...

And finally my cutie jack-o-lantern I bought at Sam's a few years ago.

I just added the ribbon to the handles, it makes me smile when I hand out candy to the kiddos!

My kids LOVE crazy hair day! It's one of the few days of howdy week that my son will participate in. This year we went all buggy. I saw the idea on a blog a long time ago so I can't remember where (figures)!

I went to Dollar Tree and bought a package of plastic bugs.

These guys gave me the least heebie geebies out of all of them.

I hot glued them to his sister's barrettes (that's the pink and yellow you see, haha)

And you have your very own bug garden.....boy smiling creepily not included﻿

I cannot remember where this original idea came from. All I know is I thought it was so cute but never got around to doing it until I saw the glass domes at a garage sale. So props to whomever came up with this great idea.

Yes that's a ceiling fan light dome and a black sharpie. Hehe!

and I don't know why the wall looks so dirty but I promise you it's not!!

I put a battery powered tea light in it and it welcomes guests into the kid's bathroom.

About Me

I love waking up to the rain then turning over and going back to sleep. I love kissing my kids on the cheek to wake them each morning. I love kissing my husband on the cheek before bed each night. I love decorating my house and making gifts for my friends. I love making to-do lists and crossing things off them. I love reading a great book while drinking a Route 44 Diet Dr. Pepper from Sonic. I love snuggling under the covers when it's cold outside and watching a movie. I love listening to loud music in the car, especially music my kids hate. I love meeting friends for the first time and knowing they will be your friend for a lifetime. I love taking Sunday afternoon naps. I love watching the first snow of winter fall. I love friends who make me laugh so hard I cry. I love that I have several of those friends. I love late night drives and early morning prayer. But most of all I love the Lord and my family. I love that they all love me back despite my many flaws. I love that you are here and hope you come back again.